December
by ArghhWhyCantIThinkOfOne
Summary: Just a story to fit in with the month of December.
1. Chapter 1

White

Everything outside the den was white.

Wreath stuck her muzzle out, letting out a small gasp, when the coldest breeze she'd ever felt, touched her nose.

"What's wrong Wreath?" her sister, Frosty, meowed, padding over, and then stepped back with a shiver, before she reached her side.

"It's so cold!" she exclaimed.

"And white!" Wreath added.

"Come back here, away from the cold, you're much too young to go out in the snow," Mother meowed.

She didn't even have to tell them twice, Frosty went back over to her mother, and Wreath took one last glance at the white void, before she herself went over to Mother, burying her face in her thick, black, ginger, and white fur, letting out a sigh of content, as warmth overcame her.

"That white stuff is called snow," Mother meowed, rasping her tongue over Wreath's head, "It comes during leaf-bare, and in leaf-bare, is the best time of all four seasons."

Wreath looked up, to see a wistful look in her mother's yellow eyes.

"What time is that?" her other sister, Holly, asked.

"Christmas, though, it's been seasons since I've got to experience it..." her voice trailed off.

"Why not?" Tinsel, Wreath's only brother, asked.

"Because, it's something that is only celebrated by twolegs, and I haven't lived in a twoleg den for seasons."

"Why not?"

"Stop asking so many questions, Tinsel, can't you see that Mother is upset?" Frosty hissed.

Mother rested her tail over Frosty's back.

"It's quite alright little one," she sighed, "Sometimes, twolegs just decide that we're not worth the effort, or something happens that forces them to give us up, though, this could be seen as a blessing, because if I had been cooped up in a twoleg den, then I never would have met your father, and I wouldn't have my four little Christmas gifts."

"Our father?" Wreath asked.

Of course, she knew that she had a father, but she never really thought about him much.

"Yes, he was one of those clan cats, they live in the forest, and follow a strict set of rules," she flicked her tail over to Holly, "She's the spitting image of him, same ginger spotted fur and orange eyes.

"Wow! What clan was he from? Can we go visit him?" Wreath asked, feeling a flutter of both excitement and anticipation well up in her chest.

She might actually be meeting her father, and more cats! She didn't know of any cats except her mother and littermates.

"He's from a clan called GorgeClan, not that it matters, because you're never going to see him."

Wreath flattened her ears, at the sudden harshness in her mother's voice, a harshness that she'd never heard emit from the gentle she-cat before.

"Why not?" Tinsel asked.

"Because, he cares more about the rules of the clan, than about us! I begged him to stay with me, and he didn't, he just left."

"Why didn't you go with him?" Holly asked.

"Because," Mother sighed, "Life doesn't work that way, those clan cats would have clawed off my ears before hearing me out."

The excitement and anticipation that Wreath felt in her chest, turned to hurt and disappointment, until her heart felt as cold as the air outside.

Didn't her father want her or her littermates? Had he ever come to visit them, or to see how they were doing? Did he even know they existed?

"That's not fair!" Frosty hissed, lashing her long thin tail.

"It's the way of clan life," Mother sighed, "All those cats think they're better than all other cats, just because they follow something called The Warrior Code."

"What's The Warrior Code?" Wreath asked, perking her ears forward with interest.

She'd never heard of something so formal sounding before.

"Just a dumb set of rules that tries to control the way cats live, they even control if certain cats can have kits or not!"

Holly's eyes widened with shock.

"That's awful! I don't know what I would do if I could never have kits!"

"Well," Mother mrrowed, nuzzling her ginger furred daughter, "It's way too soon for you to start thinking about kits right now."

"I know that!" Holly exclaimed, "But when I'm older, I want lots and lots of kits! And they're all going to look like me, and my mates I suppose."

"Mates? You're going to have more than one?" Frosty snorted.

"Uh obviously, just one tom can't give me all the attention I deserve."

Wreath rolled her eyes, her youngest littermate could be a total fuzz-brain sometimes.

Frosty wrinkled her nose.

"I'm not going to have a mate, toms are useless anyway!"

"What about kits?" Holly asked, as Tinsel exclaimed, "Hey!"

The white she-cat flicked her ear towards her brother, before turning to Holly.

"If I ever have kits, which I doubt I will, I'll give you the toms."

Wreath rolled her eyes, why did it matter whether the kits were toms or she-cats? What differences were there between them?

Bored with their conversation, she padded back towards the entrance of their den, once again, peeking her head outside, seeing a small white flake drop from the sky, joining together with the white carpet that coated the ground.

Wow, all of that must be made of just those tiny flakes!

Taking a deep breath, she lifted a paw, ready to step outside, when she felt teeth dig into her scruff, pulling her back.

"You can't go out there!" Mother spat, once she had dropped her back to the ground.

"Why not?" Wreath asked.

The snow didn't look dangerous, it wasn't as though it was a wolf or a raccoon or something.

"Because, she's our mother, and she said so," Frosty put in, before Mother had a chance to say anything, "Honestly Wreath, I thought you were more mature than this," she rolled her eyes, "You sound like Tinsel asking 'why not?'"

Wreath's chest tightened with anger, and she turned to her white-pelted sister, with her fur bristled.

Who did she think she was, bossing her around like that? She was the first born of the litter, if anything, they should all be listening to her!

"Wreath, Frosty, stop this foolishness right now," Mother growled.

"Sorry, Mother," Frosty sighed, and Wreath begrudgingly muttered an apology as well.

She didn't really mean it though, why should she have to apologize? Frosty was the one who was being unreasonable.

She turned to her other two littermates, to ask them what they thought about what had went on, but to her surprise, they weren't in the nest.

She was about to call out for them, when she saw a flash of ginger, standing out brightly, against the whiteness.

They had gone outside!


	2. Chapter 2

"Holly!"

Snow and wind painfully obscured Tinsel's vision as he searched for his sister.

"Holly!" he yowled, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Why had he agreed to follow her out here? Why hadn't he tried talking her out of it?

It was cold, so cold, his paws and nose were completely numb, and his fur seemed to be growing more stiff.

That wasn't the worst part though, the worst part was the sinking feeling, that he'd never see his sister again, any of his sisters, or his mother.

"Holly!"

His throat was beginning to ache, he didn't know how much longer he could keep calling for her.

Should I search for her, or should I just sit here and wait for her to find me? He wondered.

Was she even looking for him? Was she even alive?

He shook at his head, as though trying to shake those bad thoughts out of his mind.

Of course she was alive, they'd find each other, and they'd go back to their warm and cozy den!

Suddenly, he felt something warm and fuzzy grab him around his middle, twisting his head around, he let out a hiss, when he saw the hairless face of a female twoleg.

"Let me go!" he yowled, trying to squirm out of the twoleg's grasp.

She let out a noise that sounded like a purr, and wrapped him up in her silver colored pelt.

For a moment, he relaxed in the warmth that enveloped him, but then he remembered, that he was being carried off by a twoleg!

"Help! Holly! Anybody! Help!" he yowled as loud as his hoarse voice would allow him.

He yowled, and yowled, until the twoleg stopped.

_Is she going to let me go?_

No..

His heart sank in his chest, when she started moving again, carrying him into the twoleg den.

She then sat him down, on weird looking grass, instead of being green, it was blue, and it felt slightly itchy.

"Wow! Who are you?"

Tinsel bristled, and whipped around, to find himself staring at a small, very thin tom, with a black tail, legs, and face.

Around his neck, was a light blue collar.

Aren't kittypets supposed to be fat? He wondered, of course, he didn't say it out loud, he didn't want to offend this cat on his territory.

"Pretzel, who's there?" another voice called, and a cream colored she-cat padded up to them.

She stared at Tinsel through narrowed yellow eyes, before yowling.

"Pumpkin, come check it out!"

That's what a kittypet should look like! Tinsel thought, when an overweight orange tabby tom came over.

_He walks like he's expecting kits! _

"What's this noise I hear?" a tortoiseshell she-cat meowed from behind the large orange tom.

She wrinkled her nose.

"What's your name? Why are you in our house?"

"A twoleg took me! Can you help me get out? I need to find my sister, she's lost outside, we need to get back to our mother and sisters!" Tinsel wailed.

Even though he was surrounded by all these cats, he never felt more alone.

The tortoiseshell's whiskers turned down.

"You didn't tell us your name, I'm Spice by the way."

"There's more important things to worry about than names!" Tinsel spat.

Couldn't she see how important it was that he got out of there?

He couldn't live in a twoleg den, especially not without his family!

"I'm just trying to be polite," Spice sniffed.

"Would you like to share my bed with me? You must be exhausted," the cream she-cat meowed.

"No! I just want to get out of here!" Tinsel wailed, why was no one listening to him?

Did they even understand what he was trying to say?

"You're not going anywhere out in this weather," Pumpkin shook his head, "I haven't seen a blizzard like that since I was about Pretzel's age."

The small tom's blue eyes widened.

"That must have been forever ago!"

Spice flicked his ear with her tail.

"Be polite."

The large orange tom mrrowed.

"It's alright, he's not wrong you know, it's been many many seasons since I was a kitten."

"You're not that old," the cream she-cat meowed.

A purr rumbled in the large tom's chest.

"You remind me so much of your mother you know?" he shook his head, "She was the sweetest cat I ever knew."

He turned his head to Spice.

"You look just like her, only with darker fur."

He let out a sad sigh.

"There's not a day that doesn't go by, that I don't think of her."

Tinsel's heart ached, as a rush of sympathy for the old tom coursed through his pelt.

"I'm Tinsel," he meowed, hoping to get their mind on something else, even though he hardly knew these cats, and even though he wanted nothing more than to go home, he didn't want to see them sad.

"I'm Yogurt," the cream she-cat meowed.

"And I'm Pretzel!" the small tom exclaimed, flicking his black tail in Spice's direction, "That's my mother."

At the mention of the word Mother, Tinsel's heart twisted painfully in his chest, would he ever see his mother again?

"I'm the only one left of my litter," Pretzel continued, "All my other siblings went to new homes."

"Don't you see them anymore?" Tinsel gasped, he couldn't imagine being separated from his siblings forever.

He hadn't even been apart from them for a day, and already, his heart ached with emptiness.

"Last moon, my sister, Annabelle, came here for a visit," he wrinkled his nose, "She smelled weird, and the fur on her belly was missing!"

"Oh no, what happened?" Tinsel gasped, "She wasn't injured, was she?"

Pretzel shook his head.

"She was fine, she had just gone to the cutter."

"That sounds awful!" Tinsel exclaimed, he didn't know what the cutter was, and he didn't want to know.

He glanced down at his belly, as if he'd let anyone steal his fur!

"Come on, it's time to go to sleep," Yogurt meowed.

"Can we look for my family in the morning? As soon as the sun comes up?" Tinsel sighed, knowing that it'd be no use searching for them tonight.

Pumpkin was right, the storm was way too bad.

"Yes, I'm sure tomorrow the weather will be more clear," Pumpkin meowed.

I hope so, Tinsel thought, as he padded after the cats, until they came to a den full of weird looking nests.

Yogurt gestured to one of the nests with her tail.

"Make yourself at home."

"Thanks," Tinsel meowed, though, he knew he'd never be able to make himself at home, this wasn't his home, and until he saw his family again, nothing would ever be.


	3. Chapter 3

Frosty padded into the den, and set a squirrel down at her mother's paws.

The calico she-cat stared at it for a moment, before looking away with a sigh.

"If you're not in the mood for squirrel, I think Wreath caught a mouse."

Mother shook her head.

"It's not that, it's just that, tomorrow it will have been four seasons since you kits were born," her eyes glazed over, "I just wish that Tinsel and Holly were here."

At the mention of her littermate's names, a jolt of anger pierced through Frosty's pelt.

Why were they so fuzz-brained, that they'd go out in a blizzard? Especially after Mother told them not to?

Ever since that happened, everyone had changed, Wreath tried to act overly cheerful, Mother became sad, and as for for Frosty, she became angry.

She sank her claws into the ground, and held back a growl.

_If I ever see Holly and Tinsel again, they're going to rue the day that they were ever kitted!_

"I'm back!"

Forgetting her anger for a moment, Frosty glanced at her sister, letting out a sigh, when the large, broad-shouldered tortoiseshell she-cat, struggled to make it through the entrance.

It was so crowded in their den now, she struggled to breathe, and she could hardly recall the days where she, her littermates, and her mother could all fit comfortably inside the now much too small den.

"Don't you think it's time that we search for some place with more room to stay?" she asked, as she always did after noticing how little room there was.

Like Mother always did, she widened her eyes, and shook her head.

"We can't leave! What if Tinsel and Holly come back?"

"They're dead Mother!" Frosty spat, "Do you really think kits could have survived in that blizzard?"

At the look of distraught in Mother's eyes, Frosty quickly regretted her words.

"I didn't mean-"

"If you want to leave Frosty, then feel free to, you're a grown cat, and no one is stopping you!"

Frosty reeled back, feeling as though Mother had slapped her, never before, had she spoken that harshly to her.

"You don't really think they're dead do you?" Wreath asked in a small voice.

Frosty glared at her, it was just like her not to take her side!

"Don't you?" she asked, no longer caring who she hurt. If they didn't care about her, why should she care about them?

They were nothing to her.

When Tinsel and Holly disappeared, all Mother did was sleep all the time, and all Wreath did, was tell stupid fantasies, like how they had found their father, or how they got adopted by nice twolegs.

Disgust welled up in Frosty's pelt, why would they be fuzz-brained enough to go live with their father, in his stupid clan, with all their pointless rules?

Why would they lower themselves to being a fat useless kittypet?

"No," Wreath meowed in a soft, yet firm voice, "I know they're not dead, I can feel them."

"That's the most fuzz-brained thing you've ever said!" Frosty spat.

If Wreath could feel their littermates, why couldn't she? She was their sister too, wasn't she?

The large tortoiseshell stared down at her paws for a moment, before looking up with determination in her orange eyes.

"I know you don't believe me Frosty, but I know they're alive, I just know it!"

Frosty rolled her eyes.

"And I know you're delusional."

She turned to glare at Mother.

"Both of you are."

With that, she stormed out of the den, not looking back to see if anyone was following her.

If they were, then it wasn't like it mattered, she was never going back to that den.

She would find her own place to live, and maybe even meet some new cats who weren't complete fuzz-brains.

Aren't they going to come get me? She wondered, as she stopped to catch her breath.

It seemed like she had been walking for moons, her paws ached, her chest burned, and yet, her sister and mother hadn't come after her.

She let out a sigh, as she sat down, she had never felt so alone in her life.

No, she shook that thought out of her head, and got back to her paws, as a surge of determination overtook her, she didn't need them, she didn't need anyone, she was perfectly fine on her own!

She continued padding along, dodging trees, and bramble bushes.

Finally! She thought with relief, when she saw the sparkling blue water of a stream.

It was only when she saw the slow trickling water, did she notice how parched her throat was.

As she was just about to lean over to take a much needed drink, she heard a voice hiss,

"What are you doing on StreamClan territory?"

Frosty whipped her head around, and saw a blue-grey tabby she-cat, staring at her through narrowed yellow eyes.

Beside the blue-grey tabby, was a smaller white she-cat.

Only, instead of having short fur like her own white pelt, this cat had very fluffy fur.

"Wha-" Frosty started to say, when it hit her, StreamClan...clan.

"You're one of those clan cats!" she spat, bristling, and staring at the two she-cats with as much anger as she could muster.

"Yes, and you're on our territory," the tabby growled.

"Should we go report her to Coldstar?" the white she-cat asked.

The tabby shook her head and took a step towards Frosty.

"I think we can deal with her ourselves."

Before Frosty could even ask what she was about to do, burning pain raced down her side, from where the blue-grey tabby had raked her with her claws.

_Mother was right, these cats really are brutes!_

"If you don't want more of that, you better get off my territory!" the tabby hissed.

Forgetting her thirst, Frosty ran away from the two clan cats as fast as she could.

She ran and ran, until her legs felt as heavy as stones, and her heart felt like it would explode from her chest.

When she couldn't run anymore, she sank to the ground, and curled up, wishing that Mother and Wreath were there with her.

Part of her even wished that Tinsel and Holly were there too.

That was foolish though, they were gone, she would never lay beside her littermates again.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hollyberry! Hollyberry!"

The spotted ginger she-cat puffed her chest out, taking in the praise of all of her clanmates.

_I worked so hard for this day, and it's finally here! _

"Congratulations," Cherryspots meowed, blinking warmly at her.

"Thank you," Hollyberry purred, she was so lucky that her father had found her in the blizzard, so many moons ago.

If he hadn't saved her, and taken her to his clan, then she probably wouldn't be alive.

Or worse, she wrinkled her nose at the thought, she'd be a kittypet.

It was just a shame that he didn't find Tinsel too, she thought, or Frosty and Wreath.

They would have been much better off here in GorgeClan, instead of with Mother, who filled their minds with senseless lies about the clans.

If the clans were so bad, then why did they take her in as one of their own?

Why did they look after the kits and elders first?

Why did they have all these rules to keep everyone safe, and everything in order?

"Congratulations," her father's sister, Gingerpelt meowed, blinking warmly at her.

"Yes, congratulations," her kit, Wishkit, piped up from beside the fluffy queen.

"Thank you," Hollyberry purred.

She was so lucky to have such a supportive family.

With her head and tail held high with joy and pride, she padded to the warrior's den, as excitement fluttered in her chest.

She was finally going to be able to sleep in the warrior's den!

No longer would she have to sleep in the apprentice's den with sulky Mistpaw or loudly snoring Lynxpaw.

"This is great!" she exclaimed to no one in particular.

"I don't see what's so great about it," Mistpaw coolly meowed from behind her.

"Why not?" Hollyberry demanded, turning to face the apprentice as anger welled in her chest, she was a warrior now! He was still only an apprentice, he should talk to her with respect!

The silver-grey tom narrowed his eyes.

"You don't even belong here, you're not even a real clan cat."

"Actually," Hollyberry hissed, feeling the fur on her back rise, "Cherryspots is my father, are you saying he's not a real clan cat?"

"I don't know what kind of real clan cat breaks the code by having kits with a cat from outside of their own clan," the apprentice retorted.

"Come on Mistpaw, Cherryspots has proved himself time and time again since that's happened," Shiverpaw meowed, padding up to stand next to his brother.

Looking at them side by side, Hollyberry couldn't tell them apart, however, whenever one of them opened their mouth, it was more than clear as to who was who.

"Shut up! Go hunt some birds or something," Mistpaw growled.

"Yeah, well, go hunt some herbs!" his brother shot back.

Mistpaw lashed his fluffy tail.

"Don't make me fight you!"

"Oh, what are you going to do? Heal me to death? I'm sooo scared! Look, I'm shaking like a leaf!"

Hollyberry rolled her eyes, and padded away from the brothers, she had more important things to focus on, rather than a bunch of immature apprentices.

"Hey, what's it like being a warrior?"

She held back a sigh at Lynxpaw's question.

Why were all these apprentices bothering her? She was a warrior now, she didn't have time to talk to apprentices!

"You'll find out when you become one," she responded, hoping that would be enough to quell the younger she-cat's curiosity.

"Yes, but do you feel any different? Like older than you were before getting your warrior name?" the she-cat titled her head, "You know, I think you do look a little taller than you did before."

Morningrain, Cherryspots' mate, padded up to them, and rested her tail over Lynxpaw's shoulder.

Like she always did when she saw the silver-grey she-cat, Hollyberry tried to push down her feelings of anger.

Why should this she-cat be with Cherryspots? Why did he move on from her mother so quickly?

Lynxpaw, Mistpaw, and Shiverpaw didn't seem like they were that much younger than her.

Did he ever even love her mother?

"Hollyberry has only just become a warrior," Morningrain's soft voice cut into her thoughts, "I'm sure she'll need some time to get acclimated before answering you questions."

"Thanks, but I can speak for myself," Hollyberry meowed icily, who did this cat think she was?

Morningrain's blue eyes widened.

"O-Of course, I'm sorry, I was just trying to help."

"I don't need your help," Hollyberry growled.

She knew that she wasn't being the nicest cat in the world, or acting very clan-like, but Morningrain just grated on her nerves!

She acted all sweet and innocent, but it was her fault that she didn't know her father until the blizzard.

If it wasn't for her, then her whole family could have been together from the very beginning! And they would probably all still be together.

She glared after the retreating form of Morningrain and Lynxpaw.

_When I become leader, the first thing that I'm going to do, is exile Morningrain and her kits, and then, I'll find Mother and my littermates, and have them join GorgeClan, and we'll all be one happy family again!_


End file.
